the city districts and the other from the county districts. The same plan was applied to the members of the House of Representatives. The next step was to confer with the state superintendent, the state inspectors, and the leading county and city superintendents having the welfare of the state at heart. Influential board members who were not present at the Minnesota Educational Association were also consulted. All did their part to aid in procuring the passage of the bill. In this connection, I must not forget to mention the press of the state, which so kindly advocated the passage of the bill by printing articles favorable to its passage. The legislators are in most cases fair and anxious to work for the advancement and interest of their constituents and the state at large, but we must not expect them to be as well posted on questions of school management as we who are in closer touch with the minor affairs. Consequently their attention must be called to such matters. Copies of the bill may be had at any time and I am also sure that the Minnesota department of education will be pleased to aid you in every way possible, should you, in your respective states, undertake the passage of a similar bill. THE SUCCESS OF A STATE TEACHERS' EMPLOYMENT AGENCY LAW AFTER TWO YEARS E. T. CRITCHETT, ASSISTANT INSPECTOR, STATE HIGH AND GRADED SCHOOLS, At the outset I wish to correct any false impression that may have been given from the topic assigned to me upon the program, to the effect that our States Teachers' Employment Bureau has been in operation for two years. The fact is that the act authorizing the establishment of this bureau was approved April 25, 1913, and about the first of June the first steps were taken toward the organization and operation of such a bureau. The first registration was received June 23, 1913. Previous to this time, much interest had been shown by school boards, superintendents, and teachers, and many inquiries had been made as to the time when we could begin to serve them by naming teachers available for positions in various lines of work. This co-operation on the part of school authorities and teachers has been continued thruout the year during which we have been operating, and we feel that we have the good-will and support of all those whose co-operation is necessary in order to make successful a bureau of this kind. Up to the present time, our total registration numbers eight hundred, divided as follows: rural, 61; grades, 305; high school, 230; special, 110; supervisory positions, 94. Out of this total of teachers registered with us, we have placed, directly, in the neighborhood of four hundred. One of our greatest difficulties arises from the fact that after teachers register with us, altho at the time of enrolment they specifically agree to notify us when they have accepted a position, they fail to give any definite information as to the positions which they have accepted and such information does not reach us until some time after such acceptance. Thus it will be seen that it is exceedingly difficult to state the actual number of teachers we have placed. It certainly is of value to teachers that statements regarding their credentials and their success in teaching should be collected and kept on file at a well-located central point and that this information should be available at any time to those seeking teachers. We are ready at all times to furnish, to those employing officers who may ask for the same, copies of statements on file regarding teachers registered with us. We have a definite and distinct understanding with those who give us this information that under no circumstances shall such information be given to the person about whom it is written. The salaries of the teachers whom we have placed during the first year amount to at least $250,000, at the minimum estimate, and it will be seen that thru our service a considerable amount of money has been saved those teachers who have made use of our bureau. By law a registration fee of $3.00 is payable at the time of registration, and payment of this fee entitles the person so enrolled to the services of our bureau for twelve months from the date of registration. During the first year, receipts from this source have amounted to $2,400. Our expenses may be summarized as follows: It will be seen that our receipts are amply sufficient for the running expenses of the office. The director is listed as state school inspector and his salary is drawn from another fund. Our office is located in the department of education and for that reason no rental expense is involved. Our sole purpose at all times has been to serve the schools, and if we were unable to name a teacher whose qualifications seemed to meet the needs of the school where the vacancy occurred we did not hesitate to state that such was the case. During the fall of 1913, we could have placed at least one hundred and fifty teachers in the rural schools if such teachers had been registered with us. At no time during last fall were we able to furnish all the teachers needed for upper grammar-grade work. It seems that this bureau can be of service to the state in estimating the needs of the public schools of the state, so far as the different classes of teachers are concerned. For example, we should state from our expe rience during the past year that at the present time there is in Minnesota a surplus of teachers who are prepared to do high-school work, and there is no doubt that many such teachers in the secondary-school field will be unable to find satisfactory positions in Minnesota for the coming year. There is an apparent surplus of teachers for the primary and lower intermediate grades, but the same does not hold true in the upper intermediate grades and the grammar grades. For the past two or three years a shortage had existed in the supply of teachers in several lines of industrial work, but the supply is now ample for all industrial lines and teachers can be furnished for all vacancies that are reported. The question has frequently been asked whether this state bureau discriminates in any way in favor of the graduates of certain institutions. I wish to state emphatically that we have tried to carry out impartially the provisions of the act under which our bureau operates, which states that "any person having a certificate to teach in this state, or who has completed a course of study as required for the issuance of a certificate, or who may be found entitled to receive such certificate, and who is deemed to be a fit and capable person for teaching, shall be entitled to enrol with said. State Teachers' Employment Bureau, and shall be entitled to the privileges and services of said bureau for the term of one year." Graduates of all of the normal schools in the state and from accredited courses of similar schools in other states, as well as of the smaller Minnesota colleges and of the University of Minnesota, have been registered and the majority of those so enrolled have been placed in satisfactory positions. The question has also been asked whether the charge of favoritism might not arise when two teachers having the same or equal qualifications for a position are recommended by this bureau. In reply to this question, I would state that no such complaint has reached us and if such had been made undoubtedly we should have received such information. In view of the number of teachers enrolled in our bureau and the number who have been located in satisfactory positions during this, our first year of service, we feel that this department has shown ample justification for its existence, and that it has been of great service to the schools of the state by bringing well-qualified teachers into communication with employing officers who desire to fill vacancies in their schools. LIBRARY DEPARTMENT SECRETARY'S MINUTES OFFICERS President-WILLIS H. KERR, librarian, State Normal School.. Vice-President-MRS. P. P. CLAXTON.. Emporia, Kans. . Washington, D.C. Secretary-HARRIET A. WOOD, school librarian, Library Association of Portland. . Portland, Ore. FIRST SESSION-WEDNESDAY FORENOON, JULY 8, 1914 The Library Department met in joint session with the National Council of Teachers of English, in Elks Hall, St. Paul, Minn., and was called to order at 9:00 A.M., with President Kerr in the chair. In the absence of the secretary, Mary C. Richardson, librarian, State Normal School, Castine, Me., was appointed secretary pro tempore. Matthew S. Dudgeon, secretary, Wisconsin Library Commission, Madison, Wis., read a paper on "The Library's Debt to Culture." William B. Owen, principal, Chicago Normal School, Chicago, Ill., read a paper entitled "The Cultural Possibilities of School and College Libraries." A Symposium on "Successful Experiences with Home Reading-Lists" followed. Papers were read by the following: Helen M. Baker, high school, Brownton, Minn.; Minnie E. Porter, State Normal School, Emporia, Kans.; and Franklin K. Mathiews, librarian, Boy Scouts of America, New York, N.Y. Discussion: E. H. K. McComb, Manual Training High School, Indianapolis, Ind.; Miss Andrews, St. Paul, Minn.; Miss McBride, Worthington, Minn.; Miss Webster, North Yakima, Wash.; Miss Ritchie, West Texas Normal School, Canyon City, Tex.; O. S. Rice, state library clerk for Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.; Miss Meyers, Sheboygan, Wis.; Mr. Hibbensteel, State Normal School, Stevens Point, Wis.; E. R. Barrett, State Normal School, Emporia, Kans.; and Martha Wilson, supervisor of school libraries, State Department of Education, St. Paul, Minn. SECOND SESSION-WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 8, 1914 This session of the department was in charge of the Committee on Rural-School Libraries. It was held at the University Farm, and was called to order at 2:30 P.M., by Martha Wilson, St. Paul, Minn., chairman of the committee. The following program was given: Topic: Rural-School Libraries "The Country Child in the Rural Library"-Josephine Corliss Preston, state superintendent of public instruction, Olympia, Wash. "Rural Schools in Maine"-Mary C. Richardson, librarian, State Normal School, Castine, Me. "Making the Library Earn Its Salt"-Willis H. Kerr, librarian, State Normal School, Emporia, Kans. (Printed in Public Libraries, Chicago, April, 1914.) The Committee on Rural-School Libraries presented its report in three parts: The Book, the Teacher, and the Community. Martha Wilson, chairman of the committee, presented the first part, which was entitled "A Standard Foundation Library for a Rural School," and was prepared by Harriet A. Wood, school librarian, Library Association of Portland, Portland, Ore., and Walter Barnes, State Normal School, Glenville, W.Va., |